Dredd Reviews

I was after first rather apprehensive concerning this flick (Yeepie, another reboot…) but since it was actually rather well received, I became really eager to check it out. Eventually, it turned out to be a nice surprise and probably one of the most satisfying reboot ever conceived. Indeed, like anyone else, I didn't care much about the version starring Sylvester Stallone but there was definitely some potential with this character and, this time, they really nailed it. Indeed, even though the concept was similar, the approach was completely different and that was a real blessing. Indeed, they created a decent vision of the future, the main character was completely bad-ass and the plot was entertaining enough. Indeed, Judge Dredd didn’t put off his mask and you could feel that he might show some emotions at some point but, no, thank God, it never happened and that’s how it was supposed to be from the beginning. His sidekick was also pretty decent and managed to add a little bit of humanity in this endless mayhem but she wasn’t a tiresome emotional block to his feet which was nice as well. Still, even though it was really entertaining, it was still not really amazing though since the whole thing was rather repetitive and highly predictable. Furthermore, I thought it was rather disappointing that the other judges would be so easy to corrupt. To conclude, even though it might not be really a masterpiece, it remains a solid action flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

The new "Robocop" trailer really got me interested in the kind of satirized violence-ridden media, like "Robocop" and its inspiration "Judge Dredd". Not the really bad Sylvester Stallone vehicle, the gritty and gory comic books that satirized the violence and legal-actions of media. It deconstructs the kind of "Dirty Harry"-like action heroes who would take the law into their own hand and kill as many as they please. In the dystopian world of "Judge Dredd", that's how the law works. The first movie didn’t get that at all, luckily “Dredd” was only able to faithfully portray its source material well to the cinematic treatment. It is also a very fun and gritty action movie. The movie manages to provide an interesting original story using the characters and setting from the comics. One thing that works for the film is that it’s a pretty small film. It only takes place in one large building that holds a whole section of people. This is especially compared to the two biggest comic-book movies of that year which featured grand scenes featuring the heroes dealing with large threats like an alien invasion and the takeover of an entire city by criminals. Nothing against those great movies but after some such grand action and epic scale, it is definitely nice to see something on a much smaller scope. Dredd knows the kind of movie that it wants to be and it does it very well. Karl Urban perfectly portrays the simple yet interesting main character, Judge Dredd. JD is the kind of character that isn't prone to emotional development, which is why the addition of the rookie Anderson (played by Olivia Thirlby) works very well. Dredd does some very interesting things that makes it stand out. For example, it manages to use the tired cliché of “slow-motion action scenes” and makes it an important plot point. Dredd’s visual style combines gritty survival with some trippy visuals that works without providing mood whiplash. It is a very gory film but the blood is intentionally ridiculous splatters, so it doesn’t get disturbing or exploitative. Overall, Dredd is an enjoyable movie that captures the spirit of its comic book origin while providing enjoyably brutal action. It is a shame that this movie bombed in the box office as I am definitely enjoying this movie’s cult audience who want to see a sequel to this film that explores more of these characters and setting. Even if we don’t get a sequel, I think Dredd works a solo film that recommend you check out.

As happens in most of the movies sets in future perspective, where things got so shady and screwed up, Dredd is also a movie sets in not so good future. In US city secured in big walls, things are not so good and the law is maintained through judges. Judge Dredd is one such judge who pursue the criminal, assess and apprehend as per law. On one such day he was given a Rookie, psychic judge, who although failed her qualification test but the evaluator feels she would be handy for the institute owing to psychic abilities.

First case they set into is the triple homicide, in pursue of they case they found themselves in the heaven of Mama, a drug cartel she boss, responsible for making and distributing Slow motion, reality altering drugs. Trapped & caged in peach tree area mega building, judge Dredd and rookie, found themselves running for their lives too, in addition to apprehending culprits. Too much violence being a drug cartel movie.

"Ma-Ma is not the law... I am the law."

Created in 1977 by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, Brit cult comic book character Judge Dredd was last seen on the big screen in 1995 for the Disney-produced, campy Sylvester Stallone vehicle simply titled Judge Dredd. Although the Stallone picture is fun in a "so bad it's good" way, it was a total misfire, flopping at the box office and earning disdain from Dredd's comic book creators. It took a while, but a group of filmmakers have finally endeavoured to try again, and it's a different beast entirely. Written by Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine), 2012's Dredd sticks closer to its source material, aiming for a grittier, darker depiction of Mega-City One and its most infamous Judge. Dredd is supremely entertaining and skilful, a kinetic action fiesta that properly introduces Judge Dredd and his world in cinematic terms. This is 2012's premiere action film - without fear of hyperbole, it is easily on the same level as classic sci-fi masterpieces like The Terminator and RoboCop.

Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) lives in a dystopian future where catastrophic wars transform Earth into a devastated wasteland. On the East Coast lies Mega-City One, a metropolis overrun by crime. Keeping crime under control are the judges: law enforcement officials with the power to sentence and punish lawbreakers on the spot. One of the fiercest judges on the force, Dredd is assigned to assess the inexperienced Judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), a mutant with psychic abilities. Dredd takes the rookie into the field, investigating a routine triple homicide at a towering city block known as Peach Trees. Unfortunately, the block is essentially run by brutal crime lord and drug kingpin Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), and she is not willing to let the judges escape with their suspect. Locked inside the hostile tower, Dredd and Anderson are left at the mercy of Ma-Ma, who manufactures the city's supply of a new drug, Slo-Mo. Ma-Ma calls upon the armed residents to kill the judges, stacking the deck against the pair who are in for the fight of their lives.

Working on a modest budget (reportedly $50 million), Garland and director Pete Travis (Vantage Point) lack the resources to create an expansive adventure that truly explores Mega-City One. Instead, Dredd is a small-scale introductory escapade. Outside of an opening chase scene and the sequences set within the Grand Hall of Justice, the film confines itself within the concrete interiors of Peach Trees. It is a surprisingly effective way to re-introduce Dredd on the big screen, with the clean, simple storytelling allowing us to properly acquaint ourselves with Dredd and Anderson amid the action-oriented conflicts. We do not get to know Dredd on any profound level, but that's fundamentally the point; he's a gruff judge with a steely work ethic, thus armchair psychology would betray the character (Anderson's psychic reading of Dredd is cut off before she goes too deep). Fortunately, Garland manages to construct a film that is rich in Judge Dredd lore and can be easily enjoyed by the uninitiated. It's also rich in detail and nuance, leaving plenty of things to explore in the unlikely event of a sequel.

Comic book adaptations are often soft in terms of violence, but Judge Dredd is a character aimed more at adults. Thus, Dredd is a vehemently R-rated action film - director Travis never baulks from portraying the realities of this visceral, blood-soaked world. Dredd and Anderson are faced with scores of armed gangs, prompting the judges to spray the walls with the blood of their opponents. Holy shit, it is awesome. The violence is necessary, too, because the film needs to convey the extreme brutality of this world to allow us to understand why law enforcers like Judge Dredd are necessary. This also renders the 3D photography thematically appropriate, as it thrusts the violence into our faces. The trailers for Dredd are admittedly underwhelming, but the reason for this becomes clear while watching the movie: all the best moments are too R-rated for green-band trailers. Most action films only contain a handful of short, sharp action beats that provoke a sense of giddy exhilaration, but Dredd delivers at least 10 or 15 of those moments. The film also displays a dark but welcome sense of humour. Travis does employ slow motion during various action beats, but this is because Dredd's opponents are high on the Slo-Mo drug that makes their brain believe that time is passing at 1% of its usual rate. This ingenious stylistic choice both serves the narrative and provides the chance for creative moments of slow-motion awesomeness.

Let's get this straight: Karl Urban IS Judge Dredd. Period. Espousing a raspy voice, Urban inhabits the role with convincing abandon, washing away the bad memories of Sylvester Stallone's attempt. Urban has the right look for the role, and he effectively conveys the manly brute force and the intimidating brutality of Dredd. This is the performance that Urban will be most remembered for, easily. Thankfully, the other performers are strong as well. Olivia Thirlby is both endearing and believable as Anderson, showing terrific nuance as she displays her uncertainty towards the violent force required to be a judge. Meanwhile, Lena Headey is a compelling villain; scarred, vicious and ugly as whore-turned-drug-kingpin Ma-Ma.

Comparing Dredd with its '90s counterpart, the difference is day and night. Dredd absolutely nails it, making the Stallone version look like a woeful kiddie film. To be sure, the film is as deep as a street puddle, but it does not need to be profound. Likewise, it's a shame the film is so confined, but it nevertheless works - a quality, small-scale film is better than a wishy-washy larger-scale picture that lacks the budget to be believable. Dredd was created by a writer who knows his source and a director who knows his art. It's a badass action film and an excellent start for a potential new Dredd franchise (which, unfortunately, may never materialise).

9.4/10

The trailers didn't leave that much of an impression on me, and based on the box office, the same can be said with pretty much everyone else. It wasn't until the flood of good reviews that my interest peaked and now I'm glad I saw it and got to experience it. For those who aren't sure, go see it! I hope this movie makes enough money to warrant a sequel because it deserves one.

I don't have anything negative to say about this movie other than Lena Headey's character was a little disappointing towards the end, she's set up to be this brutal, strong villain but then (POSSIBLE SPOILER SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH) when confronted at the end she ends up being a coward and can't take on Dredd. True she wasn't that strong to take him on, but I expected there to at least be some sort of fight between them.

The other thing is that it's not entirely original...? That didn't bother me though, since this movie was so well done and felt like something fresh. To those who are saying this is a Raid Redemption rip-off clearly have no clue what they're talking about since this movie was in production way before, and as much as I loved The Raid, it wasn't exactly original or groundbreaking either.

Now onto the good things! As I mentioned it's not entirely original, we've seen the story and plot done a bunch of times but it's the way it's executed that makes it seem fresh again. I liked how well they illustrate what the city life is like: poor, filthy, and full of crime. It really made me even more invested in this world.

For a movie with a budget of around $45 million the effects are surprisingly well done. It could probably compete alongside some of the bigger budgeted films of the summer. The 3-D, unlike most of the movies that have come out in 3-D, is surprisingly well done. This is probably one of the best uses of 3-D this year so far alongside The Avengers, Prometheus, and yes Step up Revolution. I guess it's because like those movies, it was shot in 3-D. I only noticed mild blurriness, particularly during some of the action scenes but it wasn't discomforting to the eyes. Other than that the 3-D was good, it was mostly clear, wasn't murky, and there wasn't any low lighting that I noticed. It wasn't used as a gimmick like most 3-D is, the best are the slo-mo scenes in 3-D.

While I wouldn't call the characters three-dimensional(no pun intended) at least there was some characterization, which, I hate to say it The Raid lacked. I cared about these two judges, I was rooting for them the whole time and if you can manage to get me to do that, that's a big plus in my book. The actors all managed to play their characters well. Lena Headey was great with her over-the-top performance as the evil Ma-ma. Olivia Thirlby also stood out as playing the Psychic. I thought she did a great job with her transformation if you want to call it that. She seems nervous and a little scared in the beginning and it seems like she's definitely not cut out to be a Judge, the best example would be when she has to shoot someone and she can't find it in herself. Then she just turns into a complete bad ass, killing people like it's nothing and wanting to get out at no cost. I also liked how she wasn't a damsel in distress when she gets taken, she shows that she is capable of handling herself. I was afraid the movie was going to veer into that cliched path but luckily it didn't and I was pleasantly surprised by that. I was also pleasantly surprised by Karl Urban. I was skeptic of him because he does not strike me as an action/superhero-like person but he proved me wrong sort of like how Ryan Gosling proved me wrong last year with Drive. It's nice to see this happen once in a while and Karl Urban shows that he has no problem playing the role. I personally can't see anyone else playing this character but him now. He is one bad ass.

This movie is definitely not for the squeamish as I found myself once in a while squirming around in my seat. The action scenes are well-shot, there's no obnoxious shaky-cam that'll give you a headache afterwards. The pulse-pounding score elevates the action and tension. It's sad that scores like these get unnoticed by the academy.

Overall, this is one of the biggest surprises to me of 2012 so far. I didn't think I'd enjoy as much as I did. Sure it's not original but who cares when it's done as well as this. The Ma-Ma(Lena Headey) thing was disappointing but not so much that it completely ruined my enjoyment of the film because everything else was fantastic. The characters, the special effects, the score, the acting, and the well-shot action scenes all elevate the proceedings dramatically. This is such a great and fun movie that it should appeal to people outside of the action-junky demographic.

First of all, before jumping into conclusions and criticizing Dredd for how it looks, it is important to note that it is a very simple film which serves a simple purpose. Its intention is purely to provide the maximum amount of entertainment by mixing these eccentric and cool characters with hardcore, comical violence and action within a futuristic world. You could assume that Dredd is roughly the same type of action sci-fi film that has been repeated many times but, quite frankly, they are the ones that are usually the most entertaining. Still, what you see with Dredd is what you get. It may not have those marvelous plot and script qualities like many other films do, Dredd is still a tremendous package of fun that is simply there to just entertain you, the audience, with its provided action, violence and badass characters.


John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra’s creation of Dredd and film adaptations based on said character have not been played very kindly onto the big screen. The 1995 version may have had its action hero (Sylvester Stallone) in the leading role but reception was overwhelmingly negative. Now, 17 years later, we have now got the hit that we have been waiting too long to see. Pete Travis, who only for the second time in his career due to various projects with television, took on the role of the director, and who surprisingly delivers. Dredd contains the dark and dismal outlook on society and the natural world like how we have seen in film adaptations based on Frank Miller’s work. However, in terms of filming and the settings, Dredd has a sense of both fiction and realism, which was demonstrated absolutely marvelously in District 9 and was ironically filmed in South Africa too.


For years, since gaining recognition in The Lord Of The Rings, Urban had been a key element in later action and/or sci-fi films but had still played a crucial supporting role. However, with Dredd, we have been waiting way too long for Karl Urban to come out of his shell, so to speak, and be that action hero. Urban fitted into the badass, mysterious and rather cold-natured hero and, thus, became the Judge Dredd that we have been waiting to see on the big screen – shallow hearted and almost unbeatable. Most of all, Urban achieved a near impossible task - go to a higher depth in character and action than Sylvester Stallone, of all people, and provided us with a much darker and cooler tone.


In the supporting roles were Olivia Thirlby as Anderson, Dredd’s rookie accomplice. Her role was a vital key figure in the film as due to her reputation and that she doesn't wear one of the Judge masks, she more or less established an even balance between a possibly considerate and thoughtful Dredd and a cold-hearted and shallow Dredd. Finally, Lena Headey totally sold the role of the ruthless and sadistic gang lord Ma Ma. In action films, it is usually a male antagonist but Headey made a stand for ‘girl power’, so to speak and proved that women can be badass and hardcore in the genre too.


Films like Dredd can critically suffer because of its predictable, clichéd dialogue and that it lacks originality due to its many connections with past action hits. Still, there really is no need to think too seriously about it and should just appreciate that the film has a very clear intention to just entertain and excite the viewers. It is also a high recommendation for avid video gamers as Dredd is quite literally watching a story sequence from a video game for 90 minutes, and actually makes the 3D experience worth your money. Dredd never runs out of steam, there is not one boring moment and, unlike many action films, has the potential to continue and, therefore, deserves to be the start of an explosive and gruesome franchise.

Absolutely loved this movie! My second favorite movie of the year so far after The Dark Knight Rises. Fantastic action, a solid cast, and a very fast pace that really pulls you in... I highly recommend this film to any action fan! I'm already looking forward to buying the blu-ray. 10/10